While I can see how the course can be fun there was such a big gap of the amount of work that needed to be done and the understanding gained from it. I have never felt so blindsided while taking a course. There are no explanations for most of the problems! For a topic where understanding how to solve things is super important I felt that the work provided held me back more than help me. The practices were no where near an accurate representation of the actual exams even if you figured out how to answer questions. Unless you already now physics well this course is an uphill battle.

It is Kinematics, very similar to what is taught in high school. I think that the biggest factor in your grade would be your professor.

The professor I had, who clearly understood the topic to a high degree, was not a good teacher. While their teaching style may have worked for other students I found that it felt very abstract and less applicable to learning how to do physics or even breaking down the concept. They walk you through the most basic questions and then hit you with some multilayered riddle about three different units on exams. Did not prepare the class and then made a comment about how we did poorly. Was not at all someone I could ask questions to either because they did not seem to understand what I was even confused about when I went to ask throughout the course.

Teach yourself, while it is frustrating to have to when you paid so much money for a course that was the only option many people had. I personally had to teach myself to do the questions via the textbook and other sources because they were the only things that I could count on for an explanation. My TAs were great and really nice so it lessened the load. If I had started teaching myself at the beginning or, if I could afford it, getting a tutor I would have not gone through the amount of stress I went through by thinking I could rely on the person who was meant to teach me.

I wish I could say that things have stayed the same since the last reviews of this course, but things have changed since then. I really genuinely tried to enjoy and love this course... This course was challenging even though I did fairly well in high school physics. Things felt disorganized and incoherent. First off, EdX. The website was glitchy and had a ton of technical issues that were barely resolved. The EdX readings were infinitely long but explained relatively little for its length. There were never-ending workbook/practice questions (all counted for marks), and they only tell you if your inputted answer is right or wrong with no explanation. Personally, I learn better when I can read explanations so I can take note of how they expect us to approach a question. I think the only *ex...read more

The content itself was actually interesting - physics is interesting in general! The material probably wasn't as complex as it seemed, but the structure of the whole course made it 10x harder to learn. You probably have a better chance of learning the stuff from YouTube videos, though they can only get you so far.

Prof Karczmarek is very intelligent and knowledgeable, super nice person too! She knows her stuff. I can see how great she is for upper level courses, but I think she overcomplicates her lectures a bit for a first year course. It also feels as if she's not always prepared for her lecture? She'll start going at a physics question but will stop halfway through telling us to scrap everything she just said. Pretty much all the time you're watching her solve the given question for the first time. I guess people can appreciate it if they like seeing her thought process, but it mostly feels like a good chunk of lecture time was wasted waiting for her. I was lowkey always lost in her lectures. Maybe it's because I didn't have any calculus background and was also having a hard time keeping up with...read more

Stay on top of things.

Easily my favourite class of the semester and will definitely be in the running for my favourite class of all time. The course was very well organised and material is provided in advance of when they're needed and very easily accessible. Profs were extremely knowledgable and approachable. I never doubted that they had our best interests in mind! Having some background knowledge prior to taking the course definitely helped but the TAs are very supportive of everyone as well.

Do the prereadings. Take tutorial tests seriously. They may not seem like much, but doing well on them can be a big help since there's an emphasis on regular testing, rather than high stakes cumulative tests like MT and Finals. (We had them, but they weighed less.) Don't be afraid to ask questions!

BEST PHYSICS COURSE. hands down. even if you don't like physics or if you need a physics to fulfill breadth requirement, this is the class to take. the course was well-structured, profs were amazing at teaching and accommodating, and the overall class environment was so fun that I actually looked forward to each class. Content-wise, similar to phys 12 or AP phys. I would take this class again if I could. ps- this class is dynamics + waves, make sure you're okay with the course content before selecting this class to take, since whether you like the content or not is very important! (especially to keep you motivated to learn throughout the course)